DELAND, Fla. – The Lipscomb Lady Bisons tennis team would like to return from the Florida trip with an Atlantic Sun win.

The Lady Bisons, 5-2 losers at Florida Gulf Coast Thursday to start the A-Sun portion of the season. The Purple and Gold will face a formidable Stetson team Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Mandy Stoll Tennis Center.

Stetson is 6-4 and opened Atlantic Sun play with a 7-0 win over Northern Kentucky Thursday. It was the second straight sweep for Stetson.

The Lady Bisons are 4-7, 0-1.

Melissa Kromer and Jenny Borck won their singles matches against Florida Gulf Coast. Deahna Welcher and Borck teamed for a doubles win. Borck has won her last four singles matches in a row playing at No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5.

Lipscomb coach Andy Harris thinks his Lady Bisons are more prepared than ever to compete in the A-Sun.

“The girls have done a great job of rallying around each other,” Harris said. “We had a three-match win streak that was broken by Liberty.

“What is great is that they are seeing some nuggets of success from the non-conference part of the season. That should definitely give us a lot of confidence in conference play.”

Harris knows that he challenged the Lady Bisons early which makes the response of the team even more gratifying.

“They have done a good job of really staying confident and understanding the process and not getting bogged down in the results,” Harris said. “They have really been intentional about getting better every single day.

“Because of that we have been able to see some success the last two or three weeks. It was critical that they maintained their focus and that they began to start seeing their mistakes and started making adjustments. When you start to see the corrections, and see it all come together, is exciting.”

An emphasis has been placed on the mental development of the team.

“The mental fortitude has definitely gotten better as far as understanding the flow of a match,” Harris said. “We have concentrated on the details and stressing the importance of the mental approach to the fight.”

Alyssa Bellini is a junior who has seen the development of the program. Harris says that perspective is beneficial as she deals with the rest of the team.

“We are changing the culture, changing expectations and having them challenge themselves on a day-to-day basis,” Harris said. “Alyssa is able to buy into what we are selling the players and communicate it to them.”